Industry News

OMAX® Corp., a global leader in advanced abrasive waterjet technology, has increased the capacity of its state-of-the-art training center in Kent, Wash., to provide OMAX and MAXIEM® JetMachining® Center owners with enhanced resources for improved productivity and profitability.

Haas Automation Inc. will host its semi-annual 4-day HaasTec open house at its Oxnard, Calif., headquarters March 17-20. The event will include machine demos, factory tours and a catered lunch, according to the company. The previous HaasTec in 2013 drew nearly 3,000 attendees from 44 countries, and the company expects this year's event to be even bigger.

The opening of the new facility included a traditional Japanese Kagami-Biraki ceremony, where a barrel of sake is broken open with wooden mallets. Several customers, dealership representatives, city officials, Shigiya employees and other invited guests were present for the event.

Osborn, a leading supplier of industrial brushes, polishing compounds and buffs, recently announced that Kevin Pearson has been named territory sales manager for Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama.

Seco Tools LLC, the North American subsidiary of Sweden's Seco Tools AB, in October announced organizational changes and employee promotions within its Canadian sales organization. With 24 years of experience in the industry, including 10 years at Seco, Branko Hohnec brings a wealth of expertise to the role of general manager for Seco in Canada.

GF Machining Solutions has appointed a new director of sales and a new director of applications to its leadership team. Don McMillan and Tony Salvado now fill these critical roles to enhance the sales, service and support for the company's milling, EDM and laser texturing solutions.

In response to increased demand across the country for its advanced abrasive waterjet systems, the OMAX® Corp. has expanded its sales force. The Kent, Wash.-based company added Brad Tumbleson as regional sales manager to serve customers throughout Southern California.

While the October 2015 Manufacturing ISM Report on Business showed continued growth, the report's overall PMI registered 50.1 percent, a slowdown from September's reading of 50.2 percent, reported the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

Hexagon Metrology announced last November that the company was changing its name to Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence and rebranding to reflect increasing capabilities in data-driven industrial manufacturing solutions. The change aligns the business more closely with Hexagon's overall strategy to offer software-centric information technology solutions that improve quality and productivity across entire industry workflows, according to a Nov.

In October 2015, TRUMPF purchased approximately five acres of land adjacent to Interstate Highway 90 in Hoffman Estates, Ill., a northwestern suburb of Chicago. Located within one of the core zones of the sheet metal business in North America, this site will serve as the future home of the TRUMPF Technology Center and the center of excellence for Industry 4.0, according to the company.

Jergens Inc. announced Nov. 4 that Steve Schmidtke is Group Manager for the Cleveland, Ohio-based company's Workholding Solutions Group. "In his new role, Steve will be responsible for all of the Workholding Group's activities including Application Engineering, Product Management, New Product and New Market development as well as sales and support of our workholding products through our network of partner distributors," said Jergens General Manager Robert Rubenstahl.